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Running for Bolder Boulder a 'broader' future

Local Genesister program aims to prevent teen pregnancy

By Sarah Kuta Camera Sports Writer

Posted:
05/25/2013 06:06:48 PM MDT

Jody Scanlon, left, leads a group of girls for a run at Boulder Reservoir. The runners are Blanca Ramirez, coach Joanna Cortes, Jatzeny Flores, Angela Ramirez, Melisa Castruita, and Lourdes Lopez.
A program through Boulder County called Genesister aims to help young aunts, who have watched their older sisters or brothers deal with teen pregnancy. A group of girls with the program are training for the Bolder Boulder.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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The girls are part of Genesister, a Boulder County program for teen aunts, who have watched their older siblings struggle through teen pregnancy and teen parenting. The new shoes, courtesy of the Boulder Running Company, are for their Bolder Boulder training groups every Saturday morning.

Many of the girls had never run before, much less run a 10K, hence the lack of supportive running shoes. Until that day, the girls have been training under program director and marathoner Jody Scanlon in various pairs of worn out sneakers. Back at the store, she reminded them that investing in a sports bra was probably a good idea, too.

"Are those your real eyelashes?" asked 13-year-old Jatzeny Flores to another girl while slipping into a pair of bright purple Nikes. They kept chatting while product line manager Henry Guzman and other store employees wrote down their names and shoe sizes.

Boulder County created Genesister three years ago as a partner to Genesis, a program started in 1989 for pregnant and parenting teens. Genesister targets the younger siblings of teen parents, who are five times more likely to get pregnant if their older sister became a teen parent, according to a 2009 study published in the journal Perspective on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

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The younger siblings of teen parents are also more likely to be sexually active during early adolescence, tend to have lower educational goals and more issues at school, according to Scanlon.

Scanlon, who's been with the original program Genesis since 1991, said it became difficult to watch more and more younger siblings of teen parents get pregnant themselves.

"It's very frustrating to watch this and see this dynamic happen but be somewhat powerless to intervene," she said. "That's where the concept of the Genesister program came about."

The program includes mentoring and educational groups to discuss topics like dating, relationships and sex education. The girls can join homework clubs designed to keep them from dropping out of school, but there's also a social component to the program. Scanlon says the point of the "fun" activities set up by the program is to remind teens that while they're young, life should be fun, not bogged down with parenting responsibilities.

"Foundational to the program is providing girls a sense of hope and future orientation," Scanlon said. "We know that access to contraception and knowledge about contraception are very important, but they're not the whole picture. For many of our clients, they may not see a lot of opportunity before them. They may not be on the college track so early parenting might seem like a logical progression. We're trying to broaden their vision."

The goal with training for the Bolder Boulder was much the same. Even though the girls groaned and hobbled through the first few training sessions, they learned to overcome the "I can't" thoughts while working toward a goal.

That's the same message Genesister staff wants to implore to them about being a relatively carefree, childless teen, says youth specialist Maya Sol Dansie.

"There are maybe some pressures where we think we might be on a path of pregnancy, dropping out, drugs," Dansie said. "We can challenge that and say I have an alternative path and it's in my power to choose and I can do this."

Emma Alcantar, a 15-year-old Boulder High sophomore, has done the Bolder Boulder before, but says she's not much of a runner. The training has been "stressful," she said, but she's glad Scanlon and other Genesister staff members are pushing them.

Her older sister Nancy got pregnant at age 18. Though Alcantar says she loves being an aunt to now 4-year-old Johnny, she's watched her sister struggle. Though she's a sophomore now, Alcantar has her sights set on a four-year college, and wants to study psychology or become a nurse, she says.

"She needed to grow up so fast," Alcantar said. "I don't want that to happen."

Often, teen parents and their families rely on community programs to help with the costs of raising a family. By running the Bolder Boulder, the girls of Genesister will feel like they're part of that community, not relying on it, Scanlon said.

After all the training, Scanlon expects about 15 girls to participate in the race.

"There's that sense of accomplishment, a sense of self-efficacy upon finishing, lessons around it takes hard work, it takes showing up, it takes being sore," she said. "Anything that is really worth doing, it does require a lot of hard work and in the end you'll be glad you put the effort in. We're trying to open their eyes to you can do more than you think you can."

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